red palm weevil

Description:

The red palm weevil, family Dryophthoridae (palm weevils) "is also known as the Asian palm weevil or sago palm weevil. The adult beetles are relatively large, ranging between two and five centimeters long, and are usually a rusty red colour - but many colour variants exist. Weevil larvae can excavate holes in the trunk of a palm trees up to a meter long, thereby weakening and eventually killing the host plant. As a result, the weevil is considered a major pest in palm plantations, including the coconut palm, date palm and oil palm. Originally from tropical Asia, the red palm weevil has spread to Africa and Europe, reaching the Mediterranean in the 1980s. It was first recorded in Spain in 1994 and in France in 2006. The weevil was first reported in the Americas on Curaçao in January 2009 and sighted the same year in Aruba. It was reported in the United States at Laguna Beach, CA late in 2010. Researchers also suspect that it has established in Morocco, Algeria and other North African countries."

Habitat:

Spotted on vegetation along a survey transect in secondary coastal lowland mixed freshwater swamp forest/sago swamp forest.